Villanova's basketball recruiting season kicks off this weekend

Villanova will put the finishing touches on their National Championship with a parade in Center City today, but the second season for college basketball is already underway with rival coaches hitting the road yesterday when recruiting season officially began. No rest for the weary, and now all your rivals want to go out and beat you even more badly.

Here you can find the official recruiting calendar from the NCAA, and we've provided a brief explanation below of what this all means:

The Quiet Period is a restricted time that prevents a coach from having any off-campus contact with the prospect. Here is what is allowed:

• Unofficial visits
• Official visits
• Letters
• Emails
• Calls

The Dead Period is the most restrictive time for communication between the coach and the prospect. Here is what is allowed:

• Letters
• Emails
• Calls
• College visits (but prospects cannot meet with the coaching staff)

The Recruiting Period (sometimes known as the Contact Period) has minimal restrictions on contact.  You can meet on or off-campus, and the coach is allowed to watch the prospect at their games.  Here is what is allowed

• Unofficial visits
• Official visits
• Off-campus/home visits
• Letters
• Emails
• Calls
• Event viewing / evaluations during high school/prep/AAU competition

The Evaluation Period is a tiny bit more restrictive than the Recruiting Period, and is primarily for the coach to "evaluate" the prospects.  The major difference here is that the coach cannot have any off-campus contact with the athlete or their parent.  Here is what is allowed:

• Unofficial visits
• Official visits
• Letters
• Emails
• Calls
• Event viewing / evaluations during high school/prep/AAU competition

Okay, now we're all well-versed and we won't be wondering why isn't camped outside of Mo Bamba's house during the Dead Period. Right? Right!

Coaches aren't allowed to head out this weekend to watch AAU games, but if you're in New Jersey or New England you can get a look at some of Villanova's recruiting targets.

Team Final's "The Scrimmage" is this Saturday and is expected to feature:

• Lonnie Walker
• D.J. Harvey
• Cameron Reddish
• Chris Lykes
• Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree
• Daron Russell
• Hameir Wright

The Northeast Hoops Festival is taking place at several locations in Southern Massachusetts and is expected to feature:

• Mohamed Bamba
• Jermaine Samuels
• Quade Green
• Jordan Tucker
• Kellan Grady
• Makai Ashton-Langford
• Wabissa Bede
• Deng Gak
• Nate Laszewski
• Tomas Murphy
• Tremont Waters